Wholegrain Brownie Fudge Pudding Cake… Deep, luxurious and served hot from the oven. This is a great winter warmer, even better that it’s a no brainer two bowl mix dessert. This brownie cake is absolutely delicious for something wholegrain made with minimal effort.
Different things bring comfort to different folk. I have too many things that give me comfort, that make me happy, that I fill my days with. Flowers, props, styling, shooting spices, still life photography, or browsing Pinterest endlessly…
And then chocolate of course, comfort at another level! Add to it walnuts, a scoop of vanilla, a drizzle of salted caramel and it’s pure joy! This brownie cake ticks all the boxes.
I always have a jar of salted caramel in the fridge and it’s for puddings or cakes or pudding cakes like this that it comes handy! Just a small drizzle of salted caramel can elevate the simplest of desserts to something really special. I have a standard recipe that I use, one you can find here.
Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram @passionateaboutbaking if you make this fudgy brownie pudding cake, or any other recipe from the blog. I’d love to see it!
Deep, luxurious and served hot from the oven, this is a great winter warmer, even better that it's a no brainer two bowl mix dessert. It's delicious for something wholegrain with minimal effort.
Eggless Wholegrain Strawberry Frangipane Tray Bake… simple, one bowl deliciousness. The buttery shortbread base which holds an indulgent fragrant almond filling, finished off with sweet tart strawberries and sprigs of fresh rosemary. The whole bake comes together quite quickly and simply, you’ll love it!
This has been a while coming and I’m not really sure why. The last time I baked this wholegrain frangipane tray bake, it was one with eggs, the recipe jotted down on one of my million post-it notes. While it did see light of day in a ‘blueberry tray bake‘ avatar, it felt like it was time to do a strawberry version again.
That truckload of strawberries in my fridge leads me on everyday. This is one of 3 strawberry seasons up in North India, and I can’t get enough of it. There’s SO MUCH you can do with these luscious berries…
Then again, one thing led to another, and further inspiration from the infinite eggless requests kicked in. I’ve been baking for donkeys years, some of the best years were with the Daring Bakers. I recall an eggless frangipane we once made back then, so this is a spin off that recipe.
Those were some of the best years of my baking life, a steep learning curve then, and very challenging. It’s one thing to get up and push your creativity a little. It’s altogether another when you completely shove the boundaries, doing things you never thought you would do!
It was these challenging bakes that gave me a foundation, a ‘baking education’ that allowed us to think differently, perhaps more creatively too. At the time, ingredients were tough to come by in India and the challenges were for a worldwide audience. Doing things from scratch had a different meaning, something I will always be grateful for.
This Eggless Wholegrain Strawberry Frangipane Tray Bake is the result of all that experimentation. Doing a whole lot of baking, and a whole LOT of eggless baking makes you often think out of the box.
The recipe is super simple, using no ‘equipment‘ as such. It’s a quick, one bowl recipe {used twice}, gets the fingertips in a bit and gets into the oven in under 30 minutes.
Then you need to wait for the bake to cool to allow you to slice it. The flavours just sing your name. I mean look at the ingredient list. All that almond meal will make anyone HAPPY!
Using ghee/clarified butter instead of normal butter is a game changer for me in many ways. I think I use it more than butter in baking now.
Ghee – doesn’t spoil and stays indefinitely at room temperature. That it tastes great and is difficult to stop eating … it is delicious! I think it also works really well because of a lower water content as compared to butter. I think I’ve read somewhere that it’s easier to digest too. Well, I’m not complaining!
So here’s the recipe for the Eggless Wholegrain Strawberry Frangipane Tray Bake. Hope you make it soon, and enjoy it as much as I have.
If you make any changes, please jot them down and do share them with me in comments. It’s always nice to know how things work differently with different folk, and how we can share experiences.
Thank you for stopping by as always. If you have any requests for recipes, please leave me a note. Will try and get something going for you.
Eggless Wholegrain Strawberry Frangipane Tray Bake… simple, one bowl deliciousness. The buttery shortbread base which holds an indulgent fragrant almond filling, finished off with sweet tart strawberries and sprigs of fresh rosemary. The whole bake comes together quite quickly and simply, you’ll love it!
Preheat oven to 180C. Line a loose bottomed 8 X 8″ square baking tray with parchment paper.
Place flour, sugar, salt and clarified butter in a large bowl. Whisk with balloon whisk to get an even breadcrumb like mix. Since it’s winter here, the ghee was semi solid which was perfect.
Whisk in the apple cider vinegar evenly, then whisk in just enough water that the biscuit base holds together when pinched between fingertips, much alike a crumble.
Transfer to prepared tin, even out, then gently press into place with your fingertips.
Bake for 12 minutes at 180 C until light golden brown.
Meanwhile, make the eggless almond frangipane.
Eggless Almond Frangipane
Place everything in a large bowl and whisk to mix. Use fingertips to get an even moist crumb. Turn over baked biscuit base and spread uniformly using an offset spatula.
Top with sliced strawberries, a scattering of fresh rosemary. Sprinkle over a tbsp of vanilla sugar.
Bake for 30-35 minutes until slightly firm to touch, and the strawberries are cooked and slightly coloured at the edges.
“I’ll be back before you can say Blueberry pie.”
Bruce Willis {Pulp Fiction}
Blueberry Frangipane Wholegrain Tray Bake, a tray that happened just because the galette failed. A friend recently got me some blueberries and they were a source of constant inspiration. The pretty little deep blue berries had me fascinated. All day long I thought of how best to use them. Muffins, galettes, cheesecake, trifle, ice cream and so much more. Finally settled for a wholewheat galette!
What I ended up with was obviously far from it. While I was really pleased with the galette when it went into the oven, ten minutes later, I stared at a virtual meltdown. Disaster had struck. Like the rivers of Babylon, how the dough spread. The pastry spread to make a base, while everything else merrily leveled above it. Heartbroken, I left the disaster to bake, slamming the oven door shut in horror.I let it be for quite a bit, sitting to cool in the oven because I was heartbroken. Nothing much I could do I figured, and set out to make a trifle. Upcycle as Ruchira had cleverly suggested at my overbaked batch of Wholegrain Butterscotch Blondies. It made the most fab ‘Upcycled‘ Butterscotch Blondie Pudding not so long ago. Clearly the more often I bake, the higher the chances of upcycling!Yet one look at the now settled tray seemed to suggest that all wasn’t lost. I stamped out shapes to salvage a few decent round cut outs while happy hungry mouths nibbled the left over edges away. No chance for trifles!! Turned out pretty delicious, and hence the Blueberry Frangipane Wholegrain Tray Bake was born. I’ve scaled the ingredients to match the tray bake, just the base has been reduced, while the rest remains pretty much the same. I did a test run with strawberries yesterday and that came out just as good too!
Recipe: Blueberry Frangipane Wholegrain Tray Bake
Summary: Moist, full of wholesome almond and fruit flavour, here’s a tray bake that you might enjoy. The Blueberry Frangipane Wholegrain Tray Bake is a quick and fuss free bake for times when berries are in plenty. Makes one 8″ X 8″ tray.
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 45 minutes Ingredients:
Place wholewheat flour, butter, brown sugar and salt in bowl of food processor and process briefly until you have a coarse mix. The butter should be pea sized.
Add the vinegar and process briefly, then gently pour in enough water until it just about begins to come together when you pinch it between your fingertips. Don’t over work, else the pastry will become tough.
Line the base of an 8″ X 8″ baking tin {or 7″ X 11″} with parchment paper. Lightly grease sides.
Press the biscuit it evenly to line the bottom.
Chill for 20 minutes while you preheat the oven, and make the frangipane.
Frangipane
Place butter, almond meal and brown sugar in same bowl of food processor and blend to mix.
Add remaining ingredients and briefly process to mix. { Can be stirred together in a big bowl too.}
Assemble
Preheat the oven to 180C.
Spread the frangipane over the chilled biscuit base, and scatter the blueberries over.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the frangipane feels set.
Allow to cool for 30 minutes, then cut into squares or bars.
Serve with unsweetened cream and extra berries if desired.
“There was a mood of magic and frenzy to the room. Crystalline swirls of sugar and flour still lingered in the air like kite tails. And then there was the smell-the smell of hope, the kind of smell that brought people home.” Sarah Addison Allen
Wholewheat & Oat Butterscotch Blondies … chewy, fudgy, mildly gooey and full of buttery goodness. Once you try these you just might get cured of your dark chocolate brownie passion, for a bit of course. I’ve made blondies in the past, yet somewhere along the way the charm waned off. This one bowl recipe turned out to be a different story altogether. A wholegrain and healthier version too!
Then quite some time back I read of someone making blondies with coconut in them. I’ve harbored a grudge against coconut for long. Since we were studying down south, everything had some form of coconut in it. I’d had enough of it. As time passed, each time I reached for a chocolate in a box, you guessed it, always coconut. Bleh!
Thanks to food blogging and more exposure than I could ever dream of, I gradually overcame my dislike for it. I discovered coconut big time in cooking. Curries, smoothies, even dessert. A Coconut Buttermilk Kaffir Lime Panna Cotta recipe developed for Saffola Fit Foodie … I knew that coconut and I could be good friends.
I now liberally use dessicated coconut and always have some on hand. The husband visited the US a short while ago and thanks to Ruchira, his list for shopping included cinnamon and butterscotch chocolate chips. The cinnamon of course went to her … take a look at her Chocolate Chilli Cinnamon Chip Cookies. The butterscotch chips stayed home with me and are mean little bits, addictive to boot. And they make some really mean blondies too!
With healthier twists and wholegrain baking the war cry at home, I took a chance with these blondies … wholewheat flour, healthy good oats, brown sugar instead of white and some coconut in these. Of course a generous dose of the deeply flavoured butterscotch chocolate chips and magic was created. The son couldn’t get enough of them. YUM! Mama, these are the best ever. Trying to stretch my now dwindling supply of butterscotch chocolate chips, I am careful how often I bake with them. The batches are rationed now.
Then one day some really good quality bakeware arrived from a new line that KitchenAid India recently launched. It was time to bake another batch of the Wholewheat & Oat Butterscotch Blondies to try out the bakeware. The quality speaks out loud. Heavy weight, durable, great finish! So while I was baking the blondies, ideas began forming in my head as to what I could send in for the contest they are running. Currently thinking something chocolate, let’s see what I can come up with.
KitchenAid India is hosting a nation-wide campaign for Pro- Baker, the first ever national campaign which targets passionate home bakers from across the country. They are inviting entries through their micro-site and we will host regional competitions at each level with a finale in New Delhi.KitchenAid has been delivering premium standards of quality, versatility, and precision to the home kitchen for almost a century now and has everything you’ll want to stock in your baking armour. Providing oodles of culinary inspiration and convenience to the passionate baker, this year KitchenAid decided to find India’s first ProBaker. This search is far and wide to 4 cities, where KitchenAid with the help of its celebrated chef jury will mentor and judge the first KitchenAid Probaker. Lots on stake; nationwide spotlight, amazing prizes at every quest, a chance to meet your favourite chef and the opportunity to be the next baking legend.
Can’t wait to be part of this epic quest?Click here to Participate and visit website to know more!
If you are a passionate home baker and are up for the challenge, you must join in too. I think it’s going to be fun, and a great learning experience as well. Culinary inspiration is always welcome. Hurry up and participate, last day for the entry is 28th Feb! There’s not a lot of time left!
Summary: Wholewheat & Oat Butterscotch Blondies … chewy, fudgy, mildly gooey and full of buttery goodness. Once you try these you just might get cured of your dark chocolate brownie passion, for a bit of course. This one bowl recipe turned out to be a different story altogether, a wholegrain and healthier version!
Prep Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg, whisked lightly with fork
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup oats
1/4 cup coconut flakes, toasted
2 tablespoon yogurt
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
1 sachet vanilla sugar {optional}
Method:
Preheat oven to 180C. Line a 8 X 8″ square tin with baking parchment.
Place butter, brown sugar, vanilla and salt in a large heatproof bowl, and microwave for a minute on high. Whisk until slightly cool.
Whisk in egg, followed by the baking powder and baking soda, then flour, oats, coconut flakes and yogurt. Fold in chips.
Turn into prepared baking tray, and sprinkle over with vanilla sugar.
Bake at 180C for 22-25 minutes until the top is firm to touch.
“In today’s world, when many of yesterday’s fashionable habits are today’s misdemeanors, we should rejoice that a chocolate dessert can bring so much innocent pleasure.” Marcel Desaulniers
Whole wheat Fresh Cherry Cocoa Brownies … yes chocolate again, cocoa actually. Pointless apologising for my long absence again, but life is getting a little hectic. This time I am blaming it on the IFBM 2014 in Bangalore. It was the best kind of get together for food bloggers in India, and it’s now a little difficult getting back into the mold of things.
Call it withdrawal symptoms if you like, but will hopefully get a long post out soon. Until then, here’s a batch of brownies I made for a boy who was having home baked stuff withdrawal symptoms yesterday. The past two days he went, “processed again?”. Of course, I was ashamed. Haven’t been at home the last week. It’s been madness, so before I stepped out to do grocery, I popped these into the oven yesterday.
Picked him up off the school bus and entered a home smelling like chocolate heaven. “Yay”, he yelled! “You baked.” He happily settled down with a jug of fresh lime juice etc. The rest was …. gobble, gobble, gobble!
Summary: Moist, fresh and healthy. Here’s yet another divine wholegrain chocolate brownie. Whole wheat Fresh Cherry Cocoa Brownies are one bowl goodness which can be stirred together in minutes.
Prep Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:
100g butter
20g clarified butter
120g brown sugar
55g cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
vanilla extract
2 eggs
75g fresh cherry balsamic preserves
80g wholewheat flour
50g dark choc chips
Method:
Preheat the oven to 175C. Line a 8 X * baking tin with pachment
Place the butter and clarified butter in a large bowl and microwave for a minute. Alternatively, place in a heavy bottom pan, and heat over very low flame until the butter has melted.
Whisk in the sugar, salt and baking powder, followed by the cocoa powder.
Break in eggs and whisk briskly to mix in, add vanilla extract. Whisk again
Fold in the cherry preserves and then the whole wheat four, followed by the chocolate chips.
You can use chopped roasted almonds instead of chocolate chips, or both f course.
Turn into prepared tin and spread uniformly. The top will be nice and shiny smooth.
Bake at 175C for about 30 minutes. Cool on rack in tine for at least 30-45 minutes.
“Some of us come on earth seeing. Some of us come on earth seeing color.” Louise Nevelson
Dark Chocolate Fresh Plum Wholewheat Meringue Tray Bake … a bake that ended my bout of lack of inspiration. The heat and humidity is killing. Back from Leh, an exhausting trip that was messed up by the travel agent, didn’t seem to make life better. It was a trip I had waited for forever … then came the mail a few hours before we were due to leave about an error in bookings their end! Try that at 11000ft, tired teens, rarefied oxygen levels …. just didn’t work!
The past few months have seen my nose to the grinding stone, trying to make up for lost time. A project to be completed, the daughter to be packed off to uni, loads of emails in the things to do, a few small things in the pipeline … and then the everyday meals, laundry, grocery, dog etc. Of course hungry teens at home for summer vacation didn’t seem to make life easier.
This was a few days before she left. They were hungry yet again. There is this time in the afternoon between 3 and 4 that some hunger goblins visit our home. I wish I could turn invisible at 3 o clock! Really do. Those goblins have surfaced without fail for the past month. I decided to beat them to it.
I had plums in the fridge… and thoughts of a whole wheat fresh plum cake I had made last year! It was time to work on those lines. A last minute thought made me save some whipped egg whites for the top; wanted to make a visually fun cake. Little did I know that when it would bake, it would endlessly remind me of our trip to Leh. Why? Nothing could have prepared us for what we saw when we landed in Leh. To our mind, we were going into the mountains, at 11000 feet, the majestic Himalayas which would be GREEN and snow topped. 11000ft to me meant more snow that would exceed any we had seen when we visited Srinagar, Kashmir in March. Boy were we gob smacked. I think we didn’t realise that Leh is a cold dessert. I could’ve never imagined those endless mountains of mud, rock and BROWN! Very National Geographic, very awe inspiring, very unlike what we expected. That’s not to say the view wasn’t stunning. It certainly was. Still this cake reminded me so much of the vast rocky terrain. Mountains higher than one can imagine, and all made of mud, rocks, actually HUGE boulders, and in many places not a spot of vegetation…
… until we reached where we were booked to stay. On the way to the beautiful Nimmu House, which we eventually got to after the travel agent messed up our bookings, we even saw something like a Grand Canyon. Nature never fails to astound!
Such a vast terrain, never ending mountains, beautiful wooden gates, doors I could pack and run away with, windows too.Rustic outdoors that left you wanting for more, more than the eyes could capture. Fresh mountain air as clean and crisp as could be. The landscape was unreal at times, took my breath away …. yet left me with ‘brown’ stamped in my mind.
And then the tray bake happened, just on the go. One look at it and it was an uncanny feeling. It reminded me of the Leh landscape in so many ways. Unexpected, rustically beautiful {in my eyes}, with unusual tones the brown sugar meringue picked up with the dark chocolate melting into it.
One bite later and it was pure joy. Moist, deeply chocolaty, delightful plum undertones, what a fun bake this tuned out to be. Must have been the plums that created some berry like magic in there.
There’s still some summer left here in the plains you are enamoured by stone fruit like me. Go grab some plums and begin experimenting. You never know how yummy life might get! Plums, peaches and cherries will soon be gone, and I will sadly miss them. We are looking at a long extended hot season though…sadly, the rains have failed to show up!
Have you ever made a cake inspired by landscape or a vacation? Would love to hear about it!
[print_this] Recipe: Dark Chocolate Fresh Plum Wholewheat Meringue Tray BakeSummary: Dark Chocolate Fresh Plum Wholewheat Meringue Tray Bake. One bite later and it was pure joy. Moist, deeply chocolaty, delightful plum undertones, what a fun bake this tuned out to be. Must have been the plums that created some berry like magic in there.Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes Ingredients:
100g butter
185g brown sugar {divided 100g+85g}
3 small eggs, separated
100g dark chocolate, room temperature
185g plum puree {about 4 medium pitted plums, with skin}
75g whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
40g cocoa powder
vanilla extract
50g dark chocolate chips for topping
Method:
Preheat oven to 180C. Line an 8″ square baking tin with parchment.
Beat egg whites with pinch of cream of tartar to soft peaks. Add 100g sugar a tbsp at a time and continue to beat to stiff peaks. Reserve.
Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Microwave for a minute until chocolate melts. Whisk well, add the plum puree, whisk. Then add yolks, whisk again. Add vanilla extract and cocoa and whisk until smooth. Reserve.
Beat butter with remaining 85g sugar for 2-3 minutes, until smooth
Mix in the flour and baking soda, followed by the chocolate mix.
Gently fold in the whipped whites, reserving about 1/2-3/4 cup for the topping.
Pour batter into prepared tin. Sprinkle over with chocolate chips.
Bake for 50-60 minutes or until the tester comes out with a few moist crumbs. Tent the top with a sheet of aluminum foil if over browning.
Place on cooling rack and leave to cool in tin for about 30 minutes.
